1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an imaging apparatus equipped with a movable display; the present invention also relates to a support mechanism for a movable member, such as a movable display.
2. Description of the Related Art
Imaging apparatuses such as digital still cameras and digital camcorders which are constructed to allow the orientation and the angle of a display (displayer) for displaying images (visual images) to be adjusted relative to a body of the imaging apparatus to enhance the convenience of photographing and handling of the imaging apparatus are known in the art. A hinge mechanism (so-called a variable angle mechanism) which supports the display in a manner to allow the display to rotate about one or more than one axis, and a link mechanism which supports the display by a plurality of links (arms) that are connected via pins are known as support mechanisms for the aforementioned movable (angle-adjustable) type of display. In addition, a support structure for the display like that shown in Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2009-303104 (Patent Literature 1) in which a concave curved surface and a convex curved surface that are in surface contact with each other to be slidable on each other are formed on a body of the imaging apparatus and the display side, respectively, to allow the display to slide along the concave curved surface and the convex curved surface is also known in the art.
The support mechanism using the conventional hinge mechanism or the conventional link mechanism is limited in flexibility in setting of the orientation of the display. When the hinge mechanism is used, sometimes the position of the display largely deviates with respect to a photographing optical axis upon the display being rotated about the axis (axes), which makes it difficult to control the composition. In close-up (macro) photography in particular, the distance between the display of the imaging apparatus and a photographic object is short, so that even a slight shake or a slight positional deviation of the user or the imaging apparatus exerts a great influence on the composition, which makes it difficult to control the composition by intuition if the deviation in position of the display with respect to a photographing optical axis is great, thus causing stress for the user.
The support mechanism using curved surfaces like that disclosed in Patent document 1 is higher in flexibility in setting of the orientation of the display than either of the aforementioned hinge mechanism and the aforementioned link mechanism. However, the projecting amount of the display from the body of the imaging apparatus in a direction normal to a photographing optical axis becomes great when the display is made to slide with respect to the body of the imaging apparatus; in addition, the concave curved surface becomes great in depth (in other words, the projecting amount of the convex curved surface becomes great) in order to secure a practical tilt angle of the display, which tends to cause an increase in thickness of the support mechanism in the direction along the photographing optical axis; these issues constitute the problems to be solved by the present invention.
Additionally, also in technical fields other than the field of imaging apparatuses, support mechanisms for a movable member which is adjustable in orientation and angle with respect to a main body have similar problems, so that there has been a demand to prevent an increase in size of the support mechanism while increasing the flexibility in setting the orientation and the angle of the movable member.